- Brad Marchand will miss the start of the season after offseason surgery
- GM Bill Zito said Wednesday he expects the winger back early in the season
- Read below for Marchand’s own explanation and what Florida is missing
Brad Marchand will not be in the Florida Panthers lineup when the season opens.
General manager Bill Zito confirmed Wednesday, on the first day of training camp, that Marchand is still working his way back from offseason surgery. Zito said he expects the 38-year-old to return “early in the season” and made a point of saying he is not worried or concerned about him.
Camp opened Wednesday with media day at Amerant Arena:
Marchand broke the news himself on Aug. 15. He posted a video explaining why he could not play in Zee’s Final Shift, the charity game in Trencin, Slovakia honoring longtime Bruins teammate Zdeno Chara.
“Unfortunately I had to have surgery. I was trying to fix without surgery but unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen and had to kind of do it last minute. With the time and the recovery I’m going to need I won’t be able to make it and play in the game.”
Watch the video he posted:
Florida has not put a name on the injury. Marchand has dealt with hip and sports hernia trouble before, having a sports hernia repaired after 2023-24 and hip surgery after 2021-22.
Last season ended early for him. Marchand piled up 54 points (27 goals, 27 assists) in 52 games, played his last game on March 6 and sat out Florida’s final 19.
He did get to the Olympics in between, picking up an assist in four games for Team Canada and skating in the 2-1 overtime loss to the United States in the gold-medal game.
Losing him again stings for a team that watched injuries wreck its 2025-26. The two-time defending champs missed the playoffs outright, and Aleksander Barkov’s knee cost him nearly the entire year.
His six-year, $31.5 million contract came right after that second Cup run, when he scored 10 playoff goals. He sits at 1,034 career points in 1,152 regular-season games.
Here is the full camp roster and schedule:
The Panthers open Sept. 29 against Carolina.
